Dress Codes

By Paul Lukas, on September 7th, 2012

I’ve been thinking a bit lately about teams telling their fans what to wear to the game. I’m not sure when it started (although I’m sure some of you do), but I figure it began when college teams started doing blackouts and white-outs and orange-outs and all the rest, and they told their fans to dress accordingly.

Then, a year or two ago, Oregon began telling Ducks fans what to wear to each game. And that’s sort of funny, because it plays into Oregon’s uni-wackiness. Like, “We wear something different every game — and so can you!”

But now it’s starting to spread. Ohio State is telling fans what to wear this weekend so they can create a striped effect in the stands. “I think it is lame and trendy,” says reader James Dupler. “They announced it about 50 times during last week’s game, so it will be interesting to see if anyone actually follows through with it and how it will look. Seems like another event to try to sell T-shirts, but at least the shirts aren’t Nike-produced.”

And Old Dominion — an FCS school (although they’ll be moving up to FBS next year) — has provided fans with a “What to Wear” schedule. “I would say this is a silly marketing ploy to sell more ODU merchandise,” says Jonathan Leib, “but I do admit to having worn a white shirt to the game last Saturday.”

Now, you all know what I think about spending $200 on polyester shirts — and that goes double if you’re doing it because some chart tells you to. But even being told to just wear a T-shirt of a certain color kinda bugs me. I’ve been thinking about why, and here are some of the reasons I’ve come up with:

• Although you could presumably find any old orange T-shirt in your dresser (or black T-shirt, or whatever), many fans will probably take the occasion to buy a team tee. So this color-out trend feels like the latest in a long string of instances in which being a “good” fan really means being a consumer, which I find disappointing. I’m obviously not the only one who thinks this, as you can see by the comments from the readers who told me about the Ohio State and Old Dominion situations.

• Even if they gave me a shirt for free, I don’t like being told what to wear at a game. I’ve already (over)paid for the ticket, the beer, etc., and I’ll wear what I damn well please, thank you very much.

• Somewhat related to the above: It would be fair to say that I’m not a great joiner. I live by myself, I work by myself, and I’m generally used to doing things my own way. That’s not to say I can’t be a good team player (I think most of the editors I’ve worked with would say I am), but I tend to be instinctively suspicious of groupthink, and that’s what these “Let’s all dress alike” things feel like to me. It reminds me of the wave, and I’ve never liked that either.

• I think it’s easier for a town to rally around a certain color when there’s only one team. In Kansas City, everyone wears red for the Chiefs; in Baltimore, the whole city is purple for the Ravens (shudder); and so on. But I live in New York, where we have multiple teams for every major sport, not to mention a very diverse, headstrong populace. So maybe the whole “Let’s all dress alike” thing doesn’t translate well to my mindset as a New Yorker.

• I’ve never been a huge college football fan; hell, I attended a college that doesn’t even have a football team. So to the extent that everyone dressing alike is a college football thing (which isn’t entirely the case, but college football seems to be what’s driving this trend), maybe I just don’t get it. On the other hand, I don’t wear Mets gear when I go to a Mets game either.

What do you all think of this? I’ll admit that the striped seating effect that Ohio State is going for could look pretty cool. But can’t they just hand everyone a placard or something, instead of telling people how to dress?

+ + + + +

Big thrill for me yesterday, as I got to meet one of my heroes: Jamie Jensen, author of the definitive travel guide Road Trip USA, now in its sixth edition. I first encountered the book while preparing for a cross-country road trip with my then-galpal in 1997 and quickly realized it was the travel guidebook I’d been spending my whole life waiting for. It’s no exaggeration to say that the book has had a huge effect on my life over the past 15 years (plus I’m proud to say there’s a quote from me on the back cover).

I occasionally e-mailed with Jamie back in the late ’90s but hadn’t heard from him in years until last week, when he got in touch to say he’d just moved to New York, so yesterday was the first time I had the privilege of meeting him in person. Everything from GPS to Yelp has put a serious dent in the market for guidebooks, but Road Trip USA remains a strong franchise. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he’s a fan of my work, too — Uni Watch, Permanent Record, Beer Frame, the works — so we ended up having this mutual-admiration dialogue that I’m sure was nauseating to everyone within earshot, but whatever. I’m genuinely excited to have met him, especially now that he’s a New Yorker. We’ll go bowling soon, Jamie!

Stirrup Friday reminder: If you’re wearing stirrups today (to work, to school, or just around the house), feel free to take a photo and send it to Phil, along with a quick explanation of the team you’re wearing and why. Thanks.

Ouch, I’d never actually seen the revision cover since I’d bought the collectors edition with the black case and Head Coach 09 game included… but that’s a pretty bad photoshop job there. The helmet & pants look almost silver and the chest logo is chopped off… that’s just horrible for a “professional” job.

Ken|
September 7, 2012 at 12:10 pm |

This is also sort of cheating, but Glen Rice was on the cover of NBA In the Zone for both the 1998 and 1999 games (1998 implying the 1997-98 season, while 1999 implying the 1998-99 season).

He was traded in the middle of the lock-out shortened 1999 season from the Hornets to the Lakers.

I’m not a very good follower, either, but I think it gives a large majority of fans the feeling that they are an active part of the University or the team. Many never got to wear the uniform on the field, so maybe it feels good to them to take part in some small way. I still wear my teams colors to the game, when I attend, but I was one of the fortunate ones that got to wear the uniform on the field, I will agree that it sounds petty if fans are having to buy a t-shirt. We live in Indianapolis, now, and this past spring at the playoffs against the heat, the Pacers left a gold t-shirt in every seat for the fans. Didn’t bother me to put it on. It was free!

name dedacted|
September 7, 2012 at 7:58 am |

I agree about group think at games.

Of course, most games i attend are when i am in a visiting city on road trip or vacation, so im not going to wear the home town gear.

Group think is a real problem in this country. It just gets worse and worse. When I was a kid, I loved the “Wave from Seattle.” We did it at the Little League World Series and at the Penn State games at Beaver Stadium. My dad always refused to do it. He said, “These people are assholes. I am not doing it.” I never understood him then, but I sure do now.

Jim Vilk|
September 7, 2012 at 11:08 am |

Just this country? Try the whole world.

That being said, I don’t see the harm in the shirt thing or the wave. I’m not much of a joiner, either, so sometimes I sit out things like this. Sometimes I participate. Just depends on my mood.

My only big quibble is if you’re being asked to cough up a bunch of dough. If I can wear an outdated clearance jersey or a DIY, or if they’re giving out free t-shirts, I’m more likely to play along.

My objection to teams giving instructions on how to dress is that it’s yet another instance of making the fans just another prop. I’m no longer surprised that the loudest reactions at games tend to be responses to “Noise” requests on the video board, but I really miss being part of crowds that knew when to cheer without any prompting. If everyone at an Ohio State game is wearing scarlet and/or gray because they all showed up wearing it, that’s great. Asking people in particular sections to wear particular colors is a bit much, though. If a team feels the need to do that, they should at least hand out T-shirts, but better fans should just show up wearing whatever they feel like.

Jim Vilk|
September 7, 2012 at 11:11 am |

The “NOISE!” requests bug me far more than being asked to wear a certain color. If my normal cheering isn’t enough for you, too bad.

Before universities got in the game, there WERE the Winnipeg Whiteouts…
For me, the “what to wear” is mostly stupid (like NHL whiteouts today, when the visitors are wearing the white), but occasionally good, like when the Hoosiers pull off the stripes among the Assembly Hall audience.

The idea of the Whiteout was started by a couple of reps from the team, but it really evolved compliments of the fans. People would get heckled for not wearing white because the tradition was something all fans could be proud of every season.

The radio stations were the soapbox for the “Wear White Tonight” campaigns. They made sure the message was heard loud and clear, but the fans embraced it.

Brett Favre was on the cover of madden in a Packers uniform after his first retirement and then unretired and was traded to the Jets before the season started

Tony C.|
September 7, 2012 at 8:48 am |

was going to post the same thing. EA also offered an alternate cover with him in a Jets uni. that year at the Pro Football Hall Of Fame, they had both covers on display

Robby Aces|
September 7, 2012 at 8:28 am |

This weekend, the NFL’s Titans have their annual Code Blue game and fans are encouraged to wear the team’s columbia blue color. Last year they gave away light blue shirts. This year everyone gets a blue trucker cap. Seems a little cheesy, but most fans appear to really get into it.

Johnny_F|
September 7, 2012 at 8:38 am |

The dress code conversation is an interesting one. I’ve got mixed feelings about the topic. I think for college sports, especially football, it’s okay. For pro sports, it feels cheesy.

Having lived in Blacksburg, VA, I’ve seen a whole college community show up for “Orange Effect”. The last VT game I attended, a couple years ago, was a celebration. The morning of the game, my wife-to-be and I hiked to a mountain top, I proposed, she said yes, and post-hike we went to a VT football game (obviously!). It was an “Orange Effect” day against Georgia Tech and the ENTIRE stadium was orange. The students soak this stuff up. Some shirts were the standard, as offered by the official VT stores/bookstores, with the date/game/etc. What made it more fun is that many of the clubs/teams/houses made their own orange effect shirt. Same color orange, but different logos & designs depending on their cause. Pretty cool. Since that day, her bridesmaids wore orange and our kitchen is painted orange. Fun stuff! For the people who didn’t wear orange, it didn’t really matter. When 70,000 wear orange, and 500 don’t, it doesn’t stick out. It gives a community a chance to get together, wear their colors and be proud. The emails start early, the social network buzz builds, the excitement spreads. College towns love it!

I’m a native New Yorker, so I get Paul’s New York-related comment. We’re not in a college sports town, in NY it wouldn’t feel genuine. In Blacksburg, Virginia— in the fall— it’s a way of life for the entire community. Life might be tough for many in SW VA, but when it’s gameday on Saturday….everyone is part of something special.

Marc-Louis Paprzyca|
September 7, 2012 at 8:45 am |

I read Uni Watch every day but it is getting a little too jaded. I don’t like that companies are just trying to sell merchandise either. Though, I like when College football stadiums have the fans wear the colors. It looks intimidating. I really like it at the Rose Bowl every year when you can tell who is a fan of what team. Chances are if you are a fan you will have those colors in your closet anyway.

There is nothing wrong with wearing your team colors to a game. If you own them and you are a fan, what better place to wear them than to a game?

Tony C.|
September 7, 2012 at 8:50 am |

i agree with this. i use to work at a Sports Fan Attic(which have currently been renamed Lids Locker Room) and people would come in ever weekend looking for new team shirts. so it’s not like Nike and the schools have hatched this devious plan to get people to do something that they aren’t already doing.

If you go back and read what I actually wrote, you’ll find that I never said there was anything wrong with it.

I said I don’t like being told what to wear. I also called myself out for three possible reasons why this may say more about me than it says about the “Let’s all dress alike” phenomenon (because I’m not not a joiner, because I’m not a big college football fan, because I’m a New Yorker).

I’m also one who doesn’t like being told what to wear (big shock there, right?) …but as long as it’s a voluntary thing and not a getting kicked out of the stadium for not participating thing, it doesn’t really bother me if teams want to do these whiteouts and orangeouts or whatever.

AnthonyTX|
September 7, 2012 at 12:37 pm |

EXACTLY. There’s a difference between being *told* what to wear to a game (which implies some sort of rule being enforced) and having a promotion which encourages all fans to wear the same color. For the past couple of years the Texans have done their “Liberty White” home opener, and I went one year wearing a blue team t-shirt. Did I feel out of place or like I wasn’t one of the true fans? No. Nor did I worry that I would be removed from my seat. It’s optional and a fun way to encourage fans. So it sells a few more t-shirts. So what? I don’t blame the teams for being willing to milk fans for every dollar they can. Pro (and college more and more these days) sports are a business at the base of things. Unless wearing a specific color is a requirement for admission (in addition to a ticket purchase), I don’t think it’s any big deal.

Matt D|
September 7, 2012 at 9:40 am |

Paul,

You might consider adding one to your list. I think people create a causal relationship between “willingness to participate” and “the quality of a person’s fandom.” The better fans, this thinking goes, will willingly plop down 30 bucks for a new shirt because, you know, “anything for the team.” Obviously, this is highly flawed thinking and speaks to an earlier idea posted that the fan becomes a “prop.” Fandom used to be judged on one’s knowledge of his or her team. Real fans new records, stats, obscure players, etc. Now, “real” fans are those most willing to buy and put on that shirt without a second thought.

All this strikes me as being very Orwellian. Why question the moving goal posts? Just fall in line and play along.

MG12|
September 7, 2012 at 10:05 am |

I think there may also something to be said about the amount of pride the fans take in their team, and their reputation as fans. St. Louis Cardinals fans are told throughout the season that they are “the best fans in baseball”. Fans fill Busch with red shirts and throwback jerseys to reinforce that they are the best, that they are no just casual fans.

Ohio State fans seem to have a similar sense of pride. They seem more knowledgeable than the typical college football fan, and will seem to do anything to support their team. Matching t-shirt color by section will likely be strongly supported by Ohio State and other schools that want to send a message.

I can see that this will be a trend that while seemingly silly, may also gain momentum. It will appeal to a fans sense of pride. Programs with a weak fan-base would not be able to pull something like this off. Programs with die-hard fan-base will take this trend to new heights, like Ohio State.

Michael M.|
September 7, 2012 at 10:16 am |

I think most fans (not all, but most) who are willing to lay down the money for a ticket are probably big enough fans that they already own apparel in team colors.

In addition, just because you have to wear team colors doesn’t mean you have to wear officially licensed apparel. I’m an Ole Miss grad/season ticket holder, and I have red and navy shirts in my closet that aren’t Ole Miss shirts.

I think most fans (not all, but most) who are willing to lay down the money for a ticket are probably big enough fans that they already own apparel in team colors.

Implicit in this statement is the assumption that being “a big fan” means spending money on team gear. That’s false.

Matt D|
September 7, 2012 at 11:34 am |

There seems to be a difference here between team colors and team gear. The school is little interested in team colors. They want you to buy the team gear.

When I go back to UD basketball games, I may wear a red polo. It may or may not be UD red. I also might just wear whatever sweater I feel like wearing that day, which is probably not in a UD color. Am I less a fan because I don’t wear the team color?

I own one UD t-shirt (now too small) and two baseball caps (throwback Orioles and throwback Brewers). No one is paying me to be a walking billboard. Until that’s the case, they can keep their team gear. furthemore, all these team shirts now have 8 billion logos on them, and, once again, I’m not being paid to advertise for those companies.

Nike, Reebok, and the rest don’t have their own factories. They contract with factories to make their apparel to their specs, just like any other clothing brand. Powers is one of the primary domestic sportswear factory operations; Ripon, in Wisconsin, is another.

Did we ever get confirmation that Ripon is still making the NFL on-field uniforms?

Geoff|
September 7, 2012 at 11:42 am |

My guess would be no, since Nike probably has different local suppliers than Reebok.

KWChris|
September 7, 2012 at 8:51 am |

That Sporting News list…that’s…something.

Nashville ahead of Chicago, Detroit, and Toronto (because the socks are silly, apparently).

The Sporting News needs to stick to…whatever it is that they do these days.

Terry Proctor|
September 7, 2012 at 9:14 am |

Screw the Sporting News and the sphinx they rode in on. The Maple Leafs have used the double stripes on the sweater, triple stripes on the socks from 1937-38 to 1966-67 and again since 1992-93. That’s Toronto’s traditional look. Why not bitch about the Dodgers’ red uni numbers? They don’t match up with the whole “Dodger Blue” thing, do they? Who in the hell do they think they are?

I stopped reading the Sporting News when they ceased to be a baseball paper and turned into a cheap imitation of Sports Illustrated (without the swimsuit issue).

At the VaTech-GaTech game on Monday night, everyone was told to wear orange for the “Orange Effect Game.” I wore maroon, not because I wanted to be different, but because I had no idea it was orange effect until I got to campus and everyone was wearing orange. Had I known, I might have worn an orange shirt just because I have some. I would never run out to buy one.

The thing I disliked the most was when I walked by the bookstore, there were huge amounts of students and even old alumni running into the store to buy their “2012 Official Orange Effect T-shirt.”

JeffDem|
September 7, 2012 at 7:46 pm |

That’s a good point. I go to quite a few Purdue football games and last year’s ND game, where they split the stadium between Gold and Black, they had corresponding shirts (with the date, vs. ND, “black and gold game”) to sell for the occasion.

That’s when the “push” is too much.

Mirliton|
September 7, 2012 at 8:51 am |

I hope New Mexico’s football team brings back the turquoise.

traxel|
September 7, 2012 at 8:53 am |

Am I wrong or are schools ASKING people to wear certain colors instead of TELLING them to? Big difference. I have a great time participating in the vibrant atmosphere of the event and that adds to it. It’s all in fun and nobody is MAKING anyone pay for anything extra – and many times they are free (well, paid for with your ticket price). I consider a t shirt like one of these a fun souvenir. Usually ends up as a workout shirt and gets trashed in about a year anyway. So what if a profit is made. It’s part of having fun and participating in school spirit. I’ve seen these t shirts sold by certain student groups as fund raisers which certainly isn’t a bad thing.

Arr Scott|
September 7, 2012 at 9:13 am |

Asking, telling, same diff. There’s a presumption of authority at work here, and a presumption of obedience. And that’s what rubs me the wrong way about this phenomenon. If it were more modest, such as simply releasing a schedule of what color the team will be wearing at what game – though that itself is kind of ridiculous, since the whole point of a “uniform” is that it’s, you know, uniform from game to game – or if it were more like once a season for a particularly big game that the school said, “Everyone wear Fighting Butterfly Fuchsia!” it wouldn’t bother me at all.

Also on the question of authority and command, fan culture just doesn’t work when it’s top down, Big Brother central planning telling everyone what to do. (This is why I also don’t like “Sweet Caroline” anywhere other than Fenway Park.) If the fans of the North Kentucky Fighting Butterflies develop a tradition of wearing chartreuse to the games, and then fuchsia on Homecoming and the big rivalry game against the NoKenTech Porkbellies, great! And the truth is, there are non-authoritarian ways for a school or a team to encourage the development of authentic fan culture like this. The current raft of dress codes is the lazy, stupid way to attempt it.

traxel|
September 7, 2012 at 9:46 am |

“Asking, telling, same diff. There’s a presumption of authority at work here, and a presumption of obedience.”

Absolutely not. There are no ramifications for not participating. They won’t be escorting anyone from the stadium unless inappropriate behavior is observed. A sneer here and there doesn’t qualify. If a certain section requires a certain dress code then notification is generally given upon ticket purchase. If not, then yes, that is wrong. But any presumption of authority or obedience is one’s on problem as this has never been implied in any instance I’ve ever seen. Just fans being asked to help create a more vibrant atmosphere. One that could help energize the home team to victory. It’s a college football game – at least that’s what I’m referring to. Audience participation is part of the social surroundings. Chants, songs, dress, all a part of it. It’s not a movie theater (except of course when the Rocky Horror Picture Show is playing).

Arr Scott|
September 7, 2012 at 10:20 am |

As a matter of plain English grammar, “Wear fuchsia” is a command. That’s what the imperative mood means; authority and obedience are inherent. Show us the University press release that reads instead, “Would students please consider possibly wearing fuchsia on this coming Sunday, and perhaps chartreuse on the Sunday following?” and you can argue ask vs tell.

“More vibrant atmosphere” is exactly the opposite of “everyone wear exactly the same thing.” I get what you’re saying about atmosphere, and I agree. But I’ve attended both kinds of events, and I can say from experience that 50,000 people all cheering passionately in their own varied ways is a heck of a lot more “vibrant” than 50,000 people all trying to look and act just like everyone else and waiting to be told what to do next. Vibrant fan experiences start with the fans and build up. They don’t start with a press release by a central authority and trickle down. Where “let’s all wear taupe on homecoming” is a fan-driven tradition, it’s awesome. Where instead it comes as, “Attention, minions: Wear taupe next Sunday,” it’s anti-fun.

By the way, spectator participation did not begin the day of the first whiteout. Little known fact: Fans all wearing different shirts are perfectly capable of chanting, singing, even dressing in passionate and vibrant ways. Heck, the most vibrant games I’ve attended have featured people wearing no shirts at all!

Splitting rhetorical hairs notwithstanding, the point is that the whole thing is coercive. It may not literally be a requirement, but it creates an atmosphere of coercion that implies social (if not legal) ramifications for non-compliance.

It’s like having school kids recite the Pledge of Allegiance and then saying, “If you don’t want to recite it, you’re free to stand outside the classroom while the rest of us do it.” That usually works out really well.

Jim Vilk|
September 7, 2012 at 11:42 am |

It may not literally be a requirement, but it creates an atmosphere of coercion that implies social (if not legal) ramifications for non-compliance.

That reminds me…is there going to be a part two of this article next month when everyone’s being told to wear pink?

Jim Vilk|
September 7, 2012 at 11:44 am |

Not that teams are telling people to wear pink, but you know what I mean.

Brian Jud|
September 7, 2012 at 9:18 am |

Based on the linked ads from ODU and OSU, it really appears as though they’re *telling* fans what to wear. All the instructions are in the imperative (“WEAR silver” or “WEAR your scarlet”).

Plus, other fans start to take it so seriously that it sure feels like it’s a command. I went to UConn, and one of our football games was supposed to be a blue-out; but it was a rainy day, so I wore a yellow rain jacket, which prompted a few students to criticize me for not wearing blue, but hey, I was the dry one by the end of the game so go me I guess.

1vox|
September 7, 2012 at 8:54 am |

the browns will be wearing this on their helmets in honor of art modell…

I went to UD and sat near the “Red Scare.” I wore gray. Why did I wear gray? Because my favorite (and only) UD shirt was gray. I felt more connected to the school in that shirt, so I wore it.

I like “organic” events. If the student fan group comes up with a theme, then great, I’ll play along. If the marketing department steals whatever idea is hot at the time and pawns it off as their own, then to hell with that. Everything in college athletics seems so contrived these days, which should be expected when the edicts are coming from the MARKETING department. I cheer on my teams because I feel an allegiance to my teams not because I want to be an unpaid employee of the marketing department.

Plus, all the “give away” shirts are always the wrong damn size and have a poorly placed sponsor logo that runs the whole aesthetic.

Didn’t ASU have a black out against Mizzou last September? Blacking out in the other team’s color sure seems a poor reflection on the university’s collective intellect. I can’t get too upset, though, seeing as we are talking about the MARKETING department. That’s not a real area of study…

Michael M.|
September 7, 2012 at 10:18 am |

If someone is a big enough fan of their school to wear their colors on “College Colors Day,” wouldn’t you imagine they already owned a shirt in team colors?

Matt D|
September 7, 2012 at 11:28 am |

Well they didn’t want you to wear just any shirt. They wanted you to wear an new, official shirt from the bookstore as noted by the number of emails I received reminding me of the 20% sale at the bookstore for College Colors Day.

timdub70|
September 7, 2012 at 2:02 pm |

My workplace had College Colors Day too, and I complied wearing a Nebraska T-shirt that I’ve had for a couple years. Not everyone at work wore Husker apparel, however. One co-worker showed up wearing a Nebraska-Kearney (my actual alma-mater, when it was known as Kearney State College) shirt.

Esa|
September 7, 2012 at 8:57 am |

Dion Phaneuf was on the cover of NHL ’09 in a Calgary Flames uniform and was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs in January 2010.

Douglas King|
September 8, 2012 at 1:14 am |

NHL 09 Was for the ’08-’09 Season though.

Only Baseball games begin and end in the year they have in their name all others end in the year.

I’m a huge Pens fan. I love how they treat and interact with the fans and the community. However, one thing that really rubbed me the wrong way was how they started to make people purchase official playoff white-out shirts.

I am not a fan of the white-out anyway, why wear the color of the away team? To me, if we are going to play dress-up, then let’s do a blackout. But anyway, it used to be a free handout shirt with a sponsor, so I would always take on because, hey, it’s a free shirt.

I will admit however, a couple of times I have worn an away white jersey instead of a home black during the playoff games. I just thought it was a bad show on their part to start having fans buy these stupid t-shirts. To my knowledge, no money goes to charity either. That would at least soften the d-bag factor.

Just seems like strait up greedy move and made me disappointed in the Pens for the first time since Milan Kraft.

As an aside to today’s COTD, there is a show on the National Geographic channel called “Abandoned”. It’s about some guys that go into some “abandoned” places looking for interesting stuff to resell. One episode featured the abandoned Pabst brewery in Milwaukee. The places they go are far more interesting than the premise of the show, but it is OK all in all.

Personally, I didn’t think the wife of the owner deserved a jersey patch. Partially for the issue you now raise.

duker|
September 7, 2012 at 12:53 pm |

This is fitting for your topic today: “Ravens Holding Stadium Viewing For Art Modell…In honor of Modell, it is suggested that fans wear purple.”

Silver Creek Doug|
September 7, 2012 at 9:08 am |

As a UGA alum, I am LOVING the cover photo today Paul! We need to wear the black once per season (and we are NOT BFBS).

I would have to agree with Bullets above. Those of us in the South especially live and die with our alma maters during football season. I proudly wear red or black (and often both) during my fall trips to Athens. I wouldn’t dream of going to a UGA game wearing a blue or green shirt.

Now when I go to a Falcons game, I grab something and put it on. I don’t have the emotional connection to the NFL that I do to UGA.

I feel obligated to point out that in your cover photo above, UGA didn’t tell the fans to wear black to the Auburn game in 2007. The fans (specifically the students) DEMANDED the university get black jerseys. The university has sold a black replica jersey for years that has far and away been the top seller and the fans said we want to see the real thing on the field. The fans spread the word amongst themselves to wear black the November day. Most did, but there was still a lot of red in the stands. I would say it was more organic than what your article references.

teenchy|
September 7, 2012 at 9:57 am |

Silver Creek Doug, thanks for posting what I came here to post.

I suspect you graduated later than I as we never had a blackout in my years in Athens. (We had people sitting on railroad tracks in one end zone watching the games for free, but that’s another story.) I recall a lot of students wearing blazers, khakis, dress shirts and ties to the games but that was mostly the Milledge Avenue crowd. I don’t recall much of what I wore to home games but I do remember late in the seasons wearing my plain gray sweatshirt with a block “GEORGIA” in red. Cocktail Party games I did pick up souvenir shirts which would be the only time you’d ever see me wear anything with the word “FLORIDA” on it.

Silver Creek Doug|
September 7, 2012 at 1:53 pm |

Teenchy, I graduated in 1993, so no blackout in my years in the Classic City either.

Then again, I did have to suffer through Ray Goof…

teenchy|
September 7, 2012 at 9:12 pm |

Ah, so you did. 1985 here.

Douglas King|
September 8, 2012 at 1:29 am |

That game in 2007 was absolutely planned by the school. UGA and Mark Richt told fans to wear black to that game for over a week (it made the papers, the radio etc.).

And the black jerseys were a before the season thing. You have to order them before the season if you actually want to wear them that season.

That event was not nearly as organic as you think it was, I just wish my fellow Tech fans would get on board with the white-outs. We don’t do gold-outs because people complain about the different shades of gold. So we move on to our other color, White. They tell fans to wear a shirt that they definitely have in their closet (or if they somehow don’t could pick 3 up for $5 at walmart, hell fans often do that to get the curmudgeons around them to put some freaking white on) and we still can’t get the entire stadium wearing the color.

Seth H|
September 7, 2012 at 9:09 am |

I’m always proud that when the Rangers give out t-shirts, only about 50% of the MSG crowd actually puts them on.

Ricko|
September 7, 2012 at 9:10 am |

Speaking of “What To Wear”, just got an email. Ebbets Field Flannels has a whole MESS of jerseys available at half price (that’s less than $100)…http://www.ebbets.co...

Oh, this is gonna be SO tempting.

Ricko|
September 7, 2012 at 9:12 am |

Including both NY Knights jerseys. Those two are almost NEVER priced so low.

Crap, I’m gonna go broke.

Arr Scott|
September 7, 2012 at 9:32 am |

Jackpot for me: That Cedar Rapids Bunnies jersey is in my size. Just clicked to order. But conundrum: So is the Cangrejeros home with Roberto #21. Can’t really afford it, but if I drink no beer for the next seven weeks, I could maybe make the numbers work, but then again the Nats are going to the playoffs and one may need rather a lot of beer in October …

Arr Scott|
September 7, 2012 at 9:16 am |

Ricko, shhhh! You’re not supposed to post this until I’ve had a chance to look through the size L selections first!

DenverGregg|
September 7, 2012 at 9:18 am |

Do those run true to size or are they on the small side? I’d like to get one, but I’d like to get the appropriate number of Xs.

Ricko|
September 7, 2012 at 9:26 am |

Well, for what it’s worth, I’m 6’2″ about 195 and an XL is nicely roomy but I don’t swim in it.

Thanks folks. Looks like it’s St. Paul rather than Cedar Rapids. Would have been fun to wear the Bunnies jersey while grilling literal bunnies, but Mom lived in St. Paul in ’39, so that’s a nifty connection.

JamesP.|
September 7, 2012 at 10:11 am |

I’ve just been drooling the hlaf-price selection. My first EFF jersey – Tampa Smokers – is listed. So many choices and the wife has said I could get one. :) Now the hard part is deciding on what to get out of what fits.

BTW – I am 6’3″ and just under 3 bills and the XXL fits perfectly. XXXL make me feel like a little kid wearing his dad’s jersey.

Ricko|
September 7, 2012 at 10:56 am |

“Now the hard part is deciding.”

Tell me about it. Makes you wish you were rich, doesn’t it.

JamesP.|
September 7, 2012 at 11:12 am |

that part abotu feeling like a little kid also works when I have to save up to buy a jersey. :)

My wife said that 50% off is 2-for-1…but I can’t justify buying two. You are right…does make one wish they were rich…just to buy all the cool stuff from Ebbetts!

JamesP.|
September 7, 2012 at 11:21 am |

damn fingers not typing what my brain tells them! Should be “about” and “Ebbets”…

Jet|
September 7, 2012 at 11:41 am |

If I put on 300 lbs., I can fit into that 1970 Hawaii Islanders 5X shirt!

Mark ’em down to $50 and maybe I’ll bite. I still can’t justify $100 for a baseball shirt, but I gotta admit they are damn sweet-looking! And no polyester!

-Jet

JamesP.|
September 7, 2012 at 11:45 am |

They are worth the full price and 50% off is almost a crime! I actually loath putting on my poly-jerseys after wearing the wool.

Same goes for their caps. I have never had a cap fit as aweseomly as an Ebbet’s cap!

concealed78|
September 7, 2012 at 2:03 pm |

Hey Jet

I can totally understand the price being too high. That said, these are quality materials, constructed by hand & American made to the highest standards of authenticity. The prices are expected to be on the higher side & I see plenty of vastly overpriced factory-made regular shirts i.e. at NFL.com. As awesome as this is, at the end of the day it’s just a $65 + S&H cotton shirt. A prime example for a DIY shirt, which I’d say an EFF is much more complicated & difficult to DIY.

That said, I too have a hard time justifying $100 on a shirt, as awesome as it is. I watch every dollar I have like a hawk.

DenverGregg|
September 7, 2012 at 1:56 pm |

That’s what I was afraid of regarding the sizing chart. I’m 6’3″ 250, but have a 54 inch chest. The chest size maps to XXXL on the sizing chart, but you’re nearly 300 pounds comfortably fitting XXL which makes me think XXL could be fine. Too bad there’s no chance to try one on.

JamesP.|
September 7, 2012 at 2:59 pm |

You and I are close to the same chest…go with the XXL. If you are not comfortable with just ordering, you can call EFF and talk to them about what would be the best fit.

well technically, no NFL team plays all of its home games in New York.

Tom V.|
September 7, 2012 at 9:45 am |

You included the Buffalo Bills for the sake of proving that Jets/Giants don’t play in NY but didn’t include the Sabres?

Terry Proctor|
September 7, 2012 at 10:03 am |

Are they still in the league?

loserem|
September 7, 2012 at 10:44 am |

Actually I started the post intending to make fun of the Jets (“Giants and who?”), and it quickly degraded from there.

Jim Vilk|
September 7, 2012 at 11:32 am |

I think it’s easier for a town to rally around a certain color when there’s only one team. In Kansas City, everyone wears red for the Chiefs; in Baltimore, the whole city is purple for the Ravens (shudder); and so on.

I’m sure Royals and Orioles fans are scratching their heads over this one…

Or do you mean NBA 2K13, produced by Jay-Z (and I’m not kidding about that last part)

Ted B.|
September 7, 2012 at 9:33 am |

Sorry I can’t find a better picture, but Boise State has been doing the striped fans in the stadium thing for quite some time. The look is cool, but I agree with the “don’t tell me what to wear” aspect: http://blog.oregonli...

Pete K.|
September 7, 2012 at 9:44 am |

Then, a year or two ago, Oregon began telling Ducks fans what to wear to each game. And that’s sort of funny, because it plays into Oregon’s uni-wackiness. Like, “We wear something different every game — and so can you!”

Let me see, the primary donor of the Oregon Ducks owns a footwear and apparel company and his alma mater is urging his fellow alums and student body to wear something “different” every game?… well that would mean you’d have to buy a lot more t’s, sweatshirts and hoodies… it’s just a veiled Nike propaganda sales ploy.

Kevin D.|
September 7, 2012 at 9:48 am |

Well, to my knowledge, Brett Favre would be the only cover athlete in the modern era to wear a different uniform during the season than what the game used. Other than that, seems pretty rare.

Brian|
September 7, 2012 at 9:53 am |

On spending money to buy an “official” t-shirt in a school’s colors…I don’t oppose the idea because some people have money and want to spend it on their alma mater/favorite team. Some people, in fact, prefer supporting institutions financially than in other ways. I work for a political organization and have to ask supporters for money all the time. I used to feel bad about it but I had to learn to get used to the fact that for everyone who complains about getting asked for money there is another person who would prefer to write a check than to volunteer an afternoon, put a sign on their lawn, whatever. I would love to have the free time to go to my alma mater’s games and wear whatever the heck I want, but I don’t live near campus anymore and can’t take four hours on a Saturday to drive up there, watch the game, and drive back. Buying a t-shirt and knowing that the money will be going back to the university in some way is my preferred form of support. Of course, not everyone feels this way. But if I were put in charge of promoting a university team or sports franchise I would quickly apply the same lessons I learned from my job – give people multiple ways to support your effort or you will lose supporters. As long as people aren’t getting turned away at the gate for wearing the wrong shirt, schools should “suggest” a unifying color all they want.

jrg|
September 7, 2012 at 9:59 am |

“The Shirt” project (http://theshirt.nd.e...) started when I was a senior at ND in 1990. We didn’t like to be told what to wear all of a sudden, so we held it in disdain.

The underclassmen seemed to accept it as “this is what we do”, however, and it has been popular ever since.

Now that I take my son to the games, I can tolerate it since he enjoys seeing the new design every year. We get a matching set when they aren’t too ugly.

DJ|
September 7, 2012 at 10:12 am |

In previous years there were also annual t-shirts designed for the first game and sold en masse to the students. What ultimately got The Shirt going as a full-fledged tradition was the charitable element.

Chris Holder|
September 7, 2012 at 10:03 am |

I have no doubt that the thought of selling new merchandise has creeped into these colleges’ (and professional teams) minds. No doubt at all. That being said, in theory I think it’s a fun idea. The visual effect of an entire stadium being one color (or in OSU’s case, stripes) is definitely a very cool thing. I’m a big college sports fan, and mostly do wear my schools’ colors at the appropriate time. The camaraderie you feel spotting another fan, especially when you live in “enemy territory”, is nice (though maybe that’s amplified here in SEC country).

I agree that folks can take it too far. If anyone feels like they simply *must* go out and buy a new shirt to fit in, that’s when you probably need to take a step back and re-evaluate things. My school wants me to wear white this weekend? Well, if I have a white shirt that is appropriate for the weather and is something I want to wear, fine. I’ll do it. But I’m certainly not under any impression that I have to or will feel out of place if I don’t. The groupthink and resulting peer pressure is definitely a dangerous thing.

Until they tell me that their suggestion for what I wear is mandatory, I think I’ll just smirk at their little ploy and go about my business. But it’s definitely just another example of money being put before everything else.

daveclt|
September 7, 2012 at 10:04 am |

My first time seeing a white-out was a 1990s Winnipeg Jets playoff game. And this article seems to support that.

When I saw that hockey game, I thought it was extremely cool. But like throwback uniforms, it is now way overdone. It should be reserved for special occasions and not more than once a year.

Like others have said, I feel the main purpose is to help fans have a connection with the team and feel like a part of the game. And there’s nothing wrong that. But when it is done every week and given generic names (e.g. red-out), it loses its impact.

TC Lofton|
September 7, 2012 at 10:07 am |

This is my first year working for the former Ohio A&M College, and since I’m low on the totem pole I could only get tickets for this week’s game against UCF. I was pretty excited, and even went out of my way to get a cool new shirt that I thought was kinda meaningful: http://shop.ohiostat...

THEN, on MONDAY, they announced that they were doing this stupid stripe thing. I realize that I could wear any grey shirt in my closet, but if I had received more than a week’s notice, I would have either purchased something else or not bothered. I don’t make a ton of money at OSU, and I’m a Masters student on top of that, so this whole thing has left a pretty sour taste in my mouth. Petty, I know, but I hate these “last second” ideas. At least my Pacers ponied up and provided the shirts.

tom|
September 7, 2012 at 10:07 am |

Around 2004 or 2005, Auburn started a campaign around campus called “ALL AUBURN, ALL ORANGE.”

I was a part of the first white out at Beaver Stadium in 2005 and I just wore a plain white t shirt to the game. Although I haven’t been to another color coordinated game since then, I can’t imagine that if I did I would go out of my way to buy a team’s shirt just to blend in. I may stop at Jo Anne Fabrics and get a plain t shirt for $3.00 though.

I do LOVE seeing color coordinated games and have no problem with the school’s asking fans to wear a certain color, but I expect fans to be smart enough to not go out of their way to make this happen.

Tom V.|
September 7, 2012 at 10:16 am |

Agreed 100%. If the school asks me to wear a school color I have no problem getting one out of my closet or going to and buying a cheap solid color shirt with no design. I am not however shelling out the $20-$30 they’re going to be looking for for an official school color event shirt.

Douglas King|
September 8, 2012 at 1:36 am |

I wish Georgia Tech fans would do this, you ask them to wear a white shirt and they complain. If by some crazy chance they don’t have a white shirt (they certainly don’t own all Gold gear, or else they would have worn it on the few occasions we tried a gold-out) already with something related to the Yellow Jackets on it they could literally pick up on for themselves and 2 others for like $5.

Seems to me that anyone thinking solid-color-outs are “making a statement” is actually the person taking it too darn seriously.

Arr Scott|
September 7, 2012 at 10:46 am |

Why can’t it just be a fun thing that fans do?

Exactly!

Which is why it’s such BS for the school or the team to be putting out press releases telling everybody to do it. When it’s a fun thing that fans do – the Camp Randall thing is a great example – it’s freakin’ awesome. But when it’s driven by diktat from some central team office, it’s sterile and authoritarian and the opposite of fun.

By the way, having been to all-color college games, and having been to chaotic nobody-matching European soccer games, there’s no contest. The European soccer fans, in their chaotic mismatching jackets, jerseys, toques, and scarves, are much more formidable and vibrant in their fan culture than anything I’ve ever experienced in America. So whether everyone is wearing the same color really doesn’t send any message at all.

For some schools (I’m pretty much talking about the ones that provide the shirts or do large campaigns) it definitely can be taken as “pandering”, although I’d probably spin it as marketing or putting on your best face – kinda like how you try to improve the curb appeal of your house before you sell it.

But as my other comment below notes, for some schools (such as Nebraska) wearing one single color is a tradition that dates back many decades. Any recruiting benefit (such as a NU vistor who said “Nebraska is just a locked in place. I really spent time around great players, the football and the Sea of Red. Never pictured this out of Nebraska. I honestly really enjoyed my stay out here.”) is just gravy.

Michael M|
September 7, 2012 at 10:31 am |

That was me, and I emailed you back, but I’ll be glad to answer here as well.

The statement is one of supporting your team. When you turn on a Nebraska-Kansas State game, and you see 95% of the stadium in red, you immediately know who those fans are pulling for. When you turn on a game and the crowd is not wearing any coordinated color, you have no idea who they’re supporting.

Fans chant or sing at games. That’s an audible show of team support. Wearing team colors is a visual statement in much the same way.

The statement is beign made to visiting fans, the visiting team on the field, people watching on TV, etc.

As for rolling your eyes and checking out, that’s fine. That’s what I did when you suggested it was all about selling apparel. I paid $600 for season tickets for my school. Don’t you imagine that if I that big of a fan, I already own a shirt or two in team colors? Come on man.

I paid $600 for season tickets for my school. Don’t you imagine that if I that big of a fan, I already own a shirt or two in team colors?

No, because I don’t equate fandom (or degree of same) with consumerism. If you do, I think that’s kind of sad.

Michael M.|
September 7, 2012 at 10:45 am |

I own officially licensed apparel of my teams so that I can show my support for my teams. Period. Not because I am a sheep following some evil corporate plan to rip me off and take my money. I am proud to support my teams. When I’m walking through the airport in Durham, NC next Monday, I’ll probably have an Ole Miss shirt on. And there will be other people wearing shirts supporting their NCAA, NFL, MLB, NBA, etc. teams.

Now, if we already OWN these clothes, why wouldn’t we wear them to the game when that team is playing? It defies logic to think fans would wear any other color.

If Paul is “out” on it then he is. No one will convince him that it’s just fun to go to Memorial Stadium and see everyone breaking out the red shirts. I’ll be at the Rose Bowl Saturday and am willing to bet there will be more red in the crowd than baby blue. No one will have to tell the Husker fans to wear red-it’s just always been part of the fun of being a fan.
Seems to be that is what Paul is missing now. He’s too close to the business of sports to appreciate just being a fan without giving a damn about who’s wearing what made by who. If a team wants to have 150 different uni combos so what? I don’t always agree with it but in the long run I’m gonna keep watching. My life is already complicated enough without worrying about the color of Boise’s field or a 2 inch square ad on the Lakers jersey.

Chris – I’m not sure if saying that Paul is “too close to the business of sports” is accurate. As he noted, I think it is because he is much more of a pro sports guy (and NY pro sports, at that) than of college.

I’m guessing his perspective would be different had he attended college at a school with a BCS-level program.

Regardless, it makes me appreciate what we have at Nebraska more than ever.

Dude, owning officially licensed apparel doesn’t make you a fan instantly. I’m an Eagles fan, and sure, I have Eagles shirts, but I also have a Steelers, Chargers, Vikings, Ravens, Bears, and a Rams jersey in my closet; that doesn’t make me a fan of those teams.

Conversely, I’m a fan of Temple football and the Oregon Ducks, but I don’t own a shirt or jersey of either of those.

I mean, yeah, if you go to a game, you can wear an “officially licensed apparel” thing to the game. Or you could just wear the team colors. Or body paint!

daveclt|
September 7, 2012 at 12:33 pm |

Kyle,
Michael M didn’t say that if you own team apparel, you are a fan. He said, if you are a fan, you probably already own team apparel.

Yes, there are some fans that own no team apparel. But I think his point is valid.

daveclt|
September 7, 2012 at 12:26 pm |

You nailed it:Fans chant or sing at games. That’s an audible show of team support. Wearing team colors is a visual statement in much the same way.

In general, “dress codes” are a good idea. They let fans visually show their unity, which improves their game day experience. (Yes, a big part of this is to improve the experience to convince that fan to return to a future game. But I have no problem with that.)

But, I am against organized “dress codes” for the following two reasons:
1. Much like chants, they are better when done from the ground-up (e.g. Clemson fans wearing orange every week, European soccer chants) vs top-down (e.g. Oregon listing what to wear each game, organist playing clap along songs at baseball games).

2. Organized “dress codes” and their “XXXX-out” naming convention are not original anymore. The whole point is to show how great and unique your team spirit is. But if you are copycatting your rival school, it loses it’s fun-ness.

Chris K|
September 7, 2012 at 3:46 pm |

“Who doesn’t want to where the ribbon?” Couldn’t help think of this show. The part where Kramer said, ” I mean I’m walkin’ aren’t I?” is what I believe, most represents what Paul is saying. But I won’t pretend to speak for him. I just love the innuendo that crept in to alot of those shows. http://www.youtube.c...

Terry Proctor|
September 7, 2012 at 10:10 am |

Paul-I like the Knicks’ new duds, except for the arm trim. As to the shorts. The contrasting waistbands help to break up the all-White or all-Royal look of the uni. In my book a decided improvement. Don’t the numbers look thinner than before?

I think I could have gotten behind the half-arm trim if the theme were repeated around the waist and legs. But the first order of business is restoring the old wordmark.

Omar Jalife|
September 7, 2012 at 10:16 am |

Like someone said, in NBA playoffs is very common to see the whole crowd in a shirt that was provided by the team. However, I dont know if anyone has noticed that in Lakers games many people arent wearing it, maybe because they are the ones in the front rows and are just there to be seem not to be part of the event or maybe they also dont like to be part of the crowd. Dont know but can only see this in Los Angeles

Flip|
September 7, 2012 at 10:17 am |

I find it amusing Oregon asks its fans to wear something uniform, when the football team, with its ever-changing set of costumes, is the antithesis of uniformity.

This is obviously a recent picture, but the stands at Camp Randall looked much the same when I went to UW in the early 1990s.

We did it because it’s what you do when you go to a Badger game. You wear red, you drink beer, you jump around.

Maybe because it was entirely fan-initiated, I never had a problem with it. I don’t particularly like red clothing, but I bought a plain tshirt only to wear to the games.

Johnny O|
September 7, 2012 at 10:45 am |

A common phrase around the Wisconsin campus is, “Red on game day.” I like that far better then being told to wear certain colors on certain games, for certain sections. You just know that when you go to a Wisconsin Badger game, you wear red.

JenInChicago|
September 7, 2012 at 10:25 am |

Schools and teams won’t provide placards….that would mean that they would have to shell out the money instead of fans adding to the coffers……

Dumb Guy|
September 7, 2012 at 10:32 am |

….and they’d end up getting chucked onto the field at some point no doubt!

I absolutely despise when teams do the “-out” thing and tell everyone to wear. It’s stupid.

Here in South Florida, the Heat do it for every playoff run. And they even give away the shirts most of the time. They’ve done “White Hot” 3 or 4 times, “The Red Zone”, and “Back in Black” as themes for the playoffs. However Heat crowds have a high poseur-to-real-fan ratio, so there are people that come to games, in their collared shirts, sunglasses and boat shoes from South Beach, perched in the lower bowl that are still wearing white because they remember it from the 2006/Shaq title. Down here it does the opposite of encouraging merchandise sales because there are so many douchey “fans” there only to be seen.

Marco|
September 7, 2012 at 10:29 am |

Never been a fan of the (insert color here) out nor am I a fan of having to rock your team’s jersey at a game. Always loved old pics of baseball and hockey games where the crowd is full is suits, ties, dresses and hats. Love the MLS supporter culture that is developing. While the majority still rock the official team jersey and scarf a growing number are growing the DIY route doing something completely original with team flair without anything from the team’s fan shop especially in Portland and Montreal.

Coleman|
September 7, 2012 at 10:33 am |

Re: “wear this, wear that”… My father is a season ticket holder for WVU football. He just happened to mention to me last week that one of the games, I don’t recall which at the moment, has instructions for a “stripe-out” in which there will be alternating sections wearing Blue and Gold.

Andrew|
September 7, 2012 at 10:35 am |

The 2007 Georgia/Auburn game blackout in the lead photo was definitely more of an organic movement. It was absolutely led by the senior class and not by the University or Nike. It was incredibly cool to see because it was people coming together to make it happen and not some corporate propaganda.

Michael M.|
September 7, 2012 at 10:39 am |

Paul, I couldn’t reply to your comment above, but I have to point out something. You said:

“Implicit in this statement is the assumption that being “a big fan” means spending money on team gear. That’s false.”

No, that’s not what I said. I said that fans would already own apparel in team colors, not “team gear.” There’s a difference.

Maybe it’s the pro/college thing, but I can assure you that fans of teams in the SEC already own team colored apparel. You won’t find many Florida fans going to The Swamp in anything other than blue and orange or LSU fans going to Death Valley in anything other than purple and gold. It’s just a natural show of support for your team.

You won’t find many Florida fans going to The Swamp in anything other than blue and orange or LSU fans going to Death Valley in anything other than purple and gold. It’s just a natural show of support for your team.

Interesting language. It may be intended as a show of support, and that’s fine, but there’s nothing “natural” about it.

Andrew|
September 7, 2012 at 10:51 am |

I think it is completely natural in the south. It’s just the way it is down here. Girls purposely choose dresses in their school’s colors for gamedays. Guys often wear button up shirts and slacks. As ridiculous as it may be, I’ve heard of people who won’t buy a car, “because it’s not the correct shade of crimson.” I would say that the south is not your typical market; the people behave differently. In most of the southern college towns, the school is all there is. There’s no professional sports team for miles so the whole community rallies around the school. So I would say that this type of behavior is completely natural in the south.

Yeah… I spent a few days in Atlanta for a concert a few years back, staying with an online friend and his family and they were all absolutely *SHOCKED* when I’d mentioned that I don’t really follow college football. It’s definitely a different mindset down there.

I would say that the south is not your typical market; the people behave differently.

I once had a professor who told us, “If you’re ever at a party where you don’t know anyone and don’t know what to say, just listen to someone else talking and then say, ‘That’s true — except in the South.'”

I want to make it clear that I really like traveling in the South and have spent lots of time there. Not making fun of anyone; just telling a story that fits in with your comment.

Michael M.|
September 7, 2012 at 11:06 am |

Bingo.

I’m not sure if it’s a North/South thing or a college/pro thing, but there’s a disconnect that Paul just doesn’t seem to grasp.

It doesn’t make him right or wrong, it’s just a different kind of vibe.

Flip|
September 7, 2012 at 10:57 am |

Yep, Bill Snyder Family Stadium is a sea of purple b/c that’s just the way it is.

Michael M.|
September 7, 2012 at 11:00 am |

You should visit an SEC football stadium sometime Paul. Ask fans if they considered wearing a color other than their school colors to the game. I think you’ll find that they didn’t even consider it.

In New York, you might grow up a Mets or a Yankees fan. You may grow up a Giants or a Jets fan. But in Mississippi, you grow up an Ole Miss or a Mississippi State fan. In Alabama, you grow up an Alabama or an Auburn fan. It’s the first question a new kid gets asked when they move to town. From a young age, if you’re in a family that supports one of those schools, you are wearing team colors to school to show your support and your classmates are doing the same thing.

By the time you’re my age (41), it is a very natural thing to wear the colors of your school to show your support.

And I don’t think it’s unique to the South. I think it’s a very natural thing to throw on your red in Lincoln or Madison, or your maize and blue in Ann Arbor, or your crimson and cream in Norman.

You seem want so badly for this to all be about money. I won’t change your mind. That’s fine. We’ll agree to disagree.

I went to an LSU game a few years ago. Great time. Don’t remember what I wore, although I can assure you it wasn’t purple!

Winter|
September 7, 2012 at 12:34 pm |

I’ve got a question for you, Michael.

What percentage of the student body at SEC schools do you think pay no attention to the athletics programs? Going to school in Michigan myself, I know there’s a good percentage of students who simply don’t care, and are busy doing something else.

While in NYC there do exist rabid fans (take for example, that guy that wears the fire helmet to all the Jets games), there is no corresponding college team, especially in football. Would the closest analogue in NYC be St. John’s basketball?

I find the same thing in LA. While there’s tons of people that follow USC or UCLA, there’s even more students of those two schools that never go to or watch the games.

Chris Holder|
September 7, 2012 at 1:09 pm |

Not Michael, but I’ll take a stab at it. I think the percentage of students that really get into the games is not as high as you’d think. Yes, people are pretty obsessed with sports (football) around here, but it’s usually older folks, alumni or not. I’m 29. When I was in high school/college, *I* cared, because I’ve always been a huge sports fan. But a lot of my friends simply didn’t watch games or even pay attention. Nowadays, if I log into Facebook, those same guys talk about nothing but sports.

I went to a D2 school in Alabama, which obviously isn’t comparable to the SEC, but still. I found very few people as sports-crazed as I was. When it comes down to it, I think college kids across the country are all pretty similar. There are a lot of other priorities in their lives before sports. And that’s to be expected, I think.

Take it FWIW. That is my experience.

Chris Holder|
September 7, 2012 at 1:13 pm |

One thing I’ll add, winter. I imagine the percentage at SEC schools *is* higher than, for example, the school I went to. Kids that are really big fans of those schools will try to go there if possible, or even be pushed there by parents. While I was a huge fan of Alabama, I received a scholarship from a different school and went there instead. But those who had opportunities to go to their favorite school might have went based on their sports fandom alone. However, I bet you see the same happen a lot of times in Michigan, or Ohio, or even California.

YPC|
September 7, 2012 at 4:12 pm |

To Michael M.’s point; I work in Pittsburgh but I’m not from there. I was very surprised not just by how often people wear their Steelers/Penguins/Pirates gear (although it does seem like it’s more common there than elsewhere), but by how often people wear black and gold in non-“official” ways – like women in black and gold dress patterns, or guys in black sweaters and gold shirts, etc. It does seem like something you’d expect more in the South, and with respect to college rather than pro teams.

Jarrod|
September 7, 2012 at 10:39 am |

I’m a high school football official. In honor of Stirrup Fridays I tried to convince my head referee to don the knickers and striped socks. No avail. We’ll look like prison guards in pajamas again tonight. Though knowing the schools we’re officiating, prison guards are probably a more-appropriate look. (Why do I say stuff like that?)

Next week I’m going with the striped socks under my pajama pants. I’d say this week but I left them at home. #UniwatchReaderFail

I am a Nebraska alum, NU football fan, and the Memorial Stadium crowd has been known as the “Sea of Red” for as long as I can remember.

At Nebraska, every game is a “Red Out”, although the University (or any other entity) very, very rarely* requests fans to wear red.

(* I recall being reminded to wear red once in 2006 or 2007 when they were going to shoot a crowd shot for the Jim Carrey movie “Yes Man”. They probably did it before Tommy Lee played with the marching band in that horrible “Tommy Lee Goes to College” ‘reality’ show).

In Nebraska, it is just assumed. If you’re going to the game, you are going to wear red. It’s not a mandate, it’s not “group think”, it’s not a marketing ploy to sell more shirts, it is what we do. I get that may be different than what the rest of the country does, and I’m okay with that. Our passion is unique.

See, I don’t read in Paul’s comments an objection to fans doing this. Or at any rate, personally, I don’t object to fans doing the all-one-color thing. When it comes from the fans, it’s pretty awesome. And it incidentally makes it more fun and immersive for a non-fan who’s just attending the game. You may not be a Wisconsin fan, but if you get invited to a Badgers game and you wear red, everyone there treats you like One of Us. It’s cool!

Where it rubs me the wrong way is when it’s not the fans doing it, but rather the school/team directing fans to do it. And even worse, telling fans what colors to wear what day. If some central authority has to tell the fans what color to wear, then it’s not a fan thing. It’s a team diktat. Might as well appoint a shirt commissar for each section.

On a purely aesthetic note, I also think it works better when (A) The fans always wear one color, not a different color each week; and (B) When, where a school has two colors other than white, the fans wear the color that’s not the dominant color of the team’s jersey. Such as when Iowa does the gold-out thing while the team wears its black jerseys:

Exactly. If it’s an organic thing that’s become part of the local culture, good for you. But if it’s just a calculated thing cooked up by the marketing dept., well….

Coleman|
September 7, 2012 at 12:08 pm |

Nobody had to tell WVU fans to wear gold at home, and the home jersey is blue. This always gives me chills… http://www.wvubaltim...

Phil P|
September 7, 2012 at 12:21 pm |

I can attest to this, people just wear red. I wouldn’t classify my in-laws as big Husker fans (they live in Lincoln), but they definitely have their share of red gear. Like Paul suggested, it’s organic, and basically part of civic life there. You live there, you support the Huskers, even if casually. Despite the fact that I’ve become a KU fan since I enrolled in a grad program there, my in-laws made sure to give our son Husker stuff as soon as he was born! haha

I’ve been waiting for someone to respond to my arguments with a specific counter-argument to which I’m somewhat vulnerable. But nobody has done so, so I’ll do it myself:

I’m the one who’s always saying that teams are, among other things, civic organizations — we rally around them, live and die with them, etc. Coming together with other fans at a game to root for your team is definitely a civic exercise, and I can see that dressing a certain way, in team colors, has a civic element. So I can see the value in that.

So there you go: Paul responds to Paul.

Tom V.|
September 7, 2012 at 11:01 am |

And college teams don’t move when they don’t get a new arena either.

Ricko|
September 7, 2012 at 11:11 am |

That, to me, is more relevant in discussions of things such as “Wear (insert color) to Work” day.
That’s about support from the community beyond the ticket buyers.

As to those actually attending, fans aren’t part of the team. Most never have been, and never will be. But, as a group noun, fans most certainly can be part of the atmosphere. But that’s more about intensity–a sort of group will–than it is about what color they wear.

Ricko|
September 7, 2012 at 11:31 am |

“But that’s more about intensity–a sort of group will–”

Granted, a sea of color sure can be part of that.

JenInChicago|
September 7, 2012 at 11:34 am |

Yeah, what Paul said…..! (is this kind of like robbing Paul to pay Paul?) Sorry – only an hour of sleep last night….

Frank from Bmore|
September 7, 2012 at 12:19 pm |

Paul, I think you are exactly right, especially as it relates to College teams in the South and Mid-west. These teams are usually located in small “college” towns, have a tradition that is handed down from generation to generation and the fans feel like they have a sense of ownership, either as alumni or lifelong fans. The idea of community and pride makes these college programs unique, where their fans aren’t told what colors to wear by the school or AD, they wear the colors to ensure they are a part of the community of fans and of the university.

Mike V.|
September 7, 2012 at 1:30 pm |

I think this definitely fits in Pittsburgh. All our teams wear black and gold, so when we as fans wear those colors we feel we are representing our city, not just the team we are watching that day. It is now football season, so people are wearing team colors today. Most people I work with either wear a jersey or team polo or just unbranded clothes in the team colors.

Do you have to wear team colors or team gear to be a fan? No. But it is just a way for people to show they are a fan. To show their support and to an extent to feel connected to the players.

Chris K|
September 7, 2012 at 2:40 pm |

Pop quiz kind of thing? Engage in some spirited debate, then once nobody quite gets it, you let them in on “your” answer. Love it Paul.

Beats|
September 7, 2012 at 4:47 pm |

So in this case does the “evil” Paul NOT have a goatee?

BurghFan|
September 7, 2012 at 8:20 pm |

It’s still the difference between fans deciding to wear those colors (even that team’s jersey) on their own, and having the team declare that they should. The money quote above was “No one will have to tell the Husker fans to wear red-it’s just always been part of the fun of being a fan.” It’s less fun when fans are being told to wear a particular color, even if they were planning on wearing it anyway.

JTH|
September 7, 2012 at 11:01 am |

“I’ll admit that the striped seating effect that Ohio State is going for could look pretty cool.”

no way, OSU invented this shit man, first stripes ever. IU basketball, pfft, what have you done since kent benson?

JTH|
September 7, 2012 at 2:11 pm |

Basketball? I thought it was tiddlywinks.

JTH|
September 7, 2012 at 2:16 pm |

And furthermore…

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

The Shoe is following the lead of Assembly Hall.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Arthur|
September 7, 2012 at 11:07 am |

Wake Forest started doing the color-outs for big basketball games quite some time ago. However, rather than instructing fans to wear a color, they always gave shirts out by putting XL tees on every seat.

This: http://www.stadiumpa... is a version of a poster that was sold at Wake for quite some time. Having trouble tracking down the date but I’m fairly certain it was one of Chris Paul’s two years (but definitely no later as Wake redesigned their floor for the 05-06 season).

Also, this shot is from the January 15, 2005 contest vs. UNC (Wake was #4 and UNC #3, so it was a pretty big game): http://grfx.cstv.com... In that shot, you can see that all the shirts in the background are the same, with a Wake Forest logo as well as a sponsor (which I believe was usually Time Warner Cable). Rather than the pinwheel effect of the first shot, they went for all yellow for that game. More pics here: http://www.wakefores...

Samuel|
September 7, 2012 at 11:18 am |

SB Nation just unveiled new logos for each and every one of their blogs. They’re all circular.

For what they are, some of those are kinda cool…and some are really bad. I find it just a little bit amusing that the Tampa Bay Bucs (who have a skull in their actual logo) get a pirate ship, while the Raiders (who don’t have a skull in their logo) get a skull & crossed swords.

My guess is that it’s a combo of the Hancock and the Chicago river dumping into the lake (not how it flares out into the blue surrounding “Chicago”). That also explains the horizontal dashy lines.

Dumb Guy|
September 7, 2012 at 12:11 pm |

I have no idea what SB Nation is.

But can we stop referencing “Hogs” in anything that has to do with the Redskins? That was 30+ years ago folks. The Hogs (Godluvem) are a monent in Redskins time, not their total history.

Maybe RG3 will give us ‘Skins fans something new to dress up as in the years to come. So take off the pig noses hats and dresses fellas. Time marches on.

JenInChicago|
September 7, 2012 at 1:10 pm |

SB Nation didn’t come up with the name for the majority of the blogs on the site. A number of these blogs were independently run prior to their becoming a part of SB Nation. Hogs Haven has been around for a very long time and have a staff of 10 running/writing/editing it. They have quite the following. We Bears fans have the Monsters of the Midway – that’s even older than the Hogs and we don’t hate it just because it’s from the past.

wow, those logos are actually pretty cool IMO! forgetting mostly what they represent, that’s some really great work

Douglas King|
September 8, 2012 at 2:21 am |

I like how the Golden Dome is Red for the Atlanta logo (I mean c’mon if you are going to use a landmark that is only famous for the fact that it’s dome is coated in actual gold, it should be represented as such), and how the Georgia Tech logo is devoid of Gold (neither Old nor Vegas) and only uses White to show reflection (meaning no actual school colors were used).

tom|
September 7, 2012 at 11:25 am |

People are missing the boat on this fan-shirt thing.

I thought fans wearing the same color shirts gave the home team an advantage.

If you’re on the visiting team, and you’re playing in front of a sea of white, orange, yellow or whatever, could be intimidating.

For a college team it CAN be intimidating. I’ve read quotes from players talking about going into Penn State’s Beaver Stadium during a “white out” game and being taken aback by 110,000 people – all in white – cheering and waving towels. Does it work all the time? Nope. While OSU’s stripes will likely look cool, I doubt it will spook their opponent.

Obviously, intimidation is only a college thing. I simply cannot imagine the Jacksonville Jaguars are going to be intimidated because 80,000 Chiefs fans are all wearing red.

Phil Hecken|
September 7, 2012 at 11:59 am |

yeah…

there’s definitely something about a shit-ton of people all dressed in white and intimidating others

but if you see the black 3 in the rearview, you might wind up ‘intimidated’. Just ask Terry Labonte(Bristol ’99).

Jet|
September 7, 2012 at 11:29 am |

The Sporting News rankings of the NHL home jerseys was about what I expected except for one bizarro anomaly — the Nashville Predators in FIFTH PLACE?!?! Ahead of the Blackhawks and Redwings???

-Jet

Jon|
September 7, 2012 at 1:35 pm |

Even as a fan of the Predators, I was baffled by that list. After passing through the Wings, Blackhawks and Leafs, I was worried that yet another “major publication” had forgotten about Nashville’s NHL franchise.

I wish… obviously your own team’s ineptitude has blinded you to how bad Oakland has been over the last decade. We’re the only team in NFL history to sweep its division and not make the playoffs. Really.

JenInChicago|
September 7, 2012 at 1:49 pm |

I’m not blinded, trust me, my Dad’s a Raider fan….he was just talking about Fred Biletnikoff….Kept calling him “Stick-um”….

Mike V.|
September 7, 2012 at 1:34 pm |

These were great. The Bills almost made me piss my pants. As a Steeler fan, theirs is definitely accurate.

rpm|
September 7, 2012 at 11:40 am |

i tend to think the -out looks cool visually, but when i was a student in the odd years when buckeye football didn’t make me want to vomit, i wore the same green plaid shirt every game, not that i didn’t get gassed and bitch about cooper. and come to think of it, none of my “friends” wore gear either. shit we made fun of people who dressed over the top for games. this guy and this guy would have been shunned, they are adults at a kid’s game for shits sake, they are an embarrassment, leave the crazy to the student section, and show some class. sheeeeeet, we barely tolerated the neutron man. i mean we loved him, but when the neutron dance came from the band and he did his thing, we laughed AT him and wondered what mental deficiency he had, we sure as shit nary said, “now that’s a fan”. put it this way, if you are an adult , and you have lost your mind, get it back man.

Ted B.|
September 7, 2012 at 11:52 am |

Paul, wouldn’t you counter your own civic argument by arguing that being forced/told to wear a certain color else face feeling ostracized has the effect of ruining any civic warm & fuzzy feeling?

If you’re going to argue with yourself this is gonna get very metta!

another Josh|
September 7, 2012 at 11:55 am |

This is probably nothing new to most people here, but the blog Ghosts of DC has a nice post today about the 1942 NFL Championship between the Redskins and Bears. It has some nice pictures and a video of this color on color game.

If I went to a game, and they told me to wear a specific color, I don’t think I would. I mean, yeah, if I were to go to an Eagles game (not likely), I would wear one of my jerseys, probably the blue and yellow throwback. But if I was told by the team I had to wear green or black? Still blue and yellow.

It’s like in High School “Spirit Days”; wear Green and white, wear tie-dye–no thanks. I can show pride without being a sheep to the system, so to speak.

I’ve been dressing myself since I was 7, and I think I can do a damn well job, thank you very much!

Ahh, high school spirit days. My school colors were purple & gold (and we were the Indians – Paul’s worst nightmare), I usually wore black & silver. The way I saw it, I chose to root for the Raiders so I wore their colors, I didn’t choose to live in that particular school district, so I really didn’t have any loyalty.

Coleman|
September 7, 2012 at 12:59 pm |

Hey THE, I’ll see your high school and raise you one. We were called the Blue Devils, but we wore purple and gold! (There are a few stories behind that one)

As if the BLUE Devils wearing PURPLE wasn’t enough? That’s right, my home town is St. Marys!!! No, there is no apostrophe, that’s how it’s spelled. So, quick overview: St. Marys Blue Devils wear Purple and Gold. Yep. God love us.

Dumb Guy|
September 7, 2012 at 12:16 pm |

Maybe the schools should tell people NOT to wear school colors. That way, since everyone is such an “idividual”, they actually WOULD wear the school colors and the stands would look awesome!!

;^P

Tom V.|
September 7, 2012 at 12:37 pm |

I don’t think any team or college is telling anyone they HAVE to wear this or that. They might say wear this color if you’re in this section or wear that color if you’re in that section, but in any case they’re not saying you HAVE to.

Now look at it from the standpoint of other fans at the game. It’s a “red out” but you chose to wear green? Either you didn’t get the memo, you don’t own a red shirt, you don’t care what you wear to the game or you’re taking some douchebag-holier-than-thou-stance that no one can tell you what to wear. After all, it’s just a shirt in a color you probably already own. Yes, I understand you’ve supported the team by buying a ticket, and on some level you and your you-can’t-tell-me bretheren are smarter and hip and more conscious of the whole who-controls-how-you dress code, but you know, at some point you’re just wearing a red shirt to a game like everyone else. I just think if one is so worried about being controlled by their sports team on what they wear to a game they’re really over thinking it.

Wear a red shirt to the game on saturday! Ok! No problem!

Phil Hecken|
September 7, 2012 at 12:48 pm |

“you’re taking some douchebag-holier-than-thou-stance that no one can tell you what to wear. “

Since several people have identified the “-out” thing as a Southern phenomenon, here’s an observation:

It’s interesting that the South — which supposedly rejects collectivism in favor of Tea Party/Ayn Rand individualism — is embracing the color-out thing, which is obviously a collectivist move.

By the same token, I’m usually more of a collectivist, but in this case I’m being stubbornly individualistic (“I’ll wear what I damn well please”).

Which goes to show that most things — and most of us — are more complicated and nuanced than initially meets the eye.

Phil P|
September 7, 2012 at 12:26 pm |

This is definitely a broad generalization, but maybe the tea partiers like collectivism only as far as you can prove you’re just like them, and if you’re different get the heck out of ‘Merica.

Whereas folks like you and me agree that we should embrace all types of differences between people and include them in all aspects of society.

Phil Hecken|
September 7, 2012 at 12:42 pm |

“It’s interesting that the South — which supposedly rejects collectivism in favor of Tea Party/Ayn Rand individualism — is embracing the color-out thing, which is obviously a collectivist move.”

~~~

i don’t think it’s individualism so much as it’s (STILL) a states-rights thing

they just don’t want warshington telling them what to do…but they’ll do it as a collective

Arr Scott|
September 7, 2012 at 2:45 pm |

Except that in historical terms, the “state’s rights” argument never held up to critical scrutiny. As a slogan, it certainly has legs, and was adopted by the early secessionists in the late 1840s, but they were shouting “state’s rights!” even as their chief complaint was that Northerners were enacting state laws that made it more difficult to enforce federal statutes important to the South. The story has been the same since then: “State’s rights” is a slogan, but it’s a slogan that describes a political program utterly divorced from, and often opposed to, the actual assertion of specifically state authority.

JTH|
September 7, 2012 at 12:45 pm |

I see very little evidence that this is a Southern phenomenon. Flames and Jets fans were doing the C of Red/Winnipeg Whiteout decades before it became fashionable.

Although, Winnipeg and Calgary are both in the southern part of Canada. So maybe there is something to this hypothesis.

ChrisH|
September 7, 2012 at 2:06 pm |

More support of the hypothesis:
The Flyers play in South Philly and have post-season orange-outs.

Tom V.|
September 7, 2012 at 12:48 pm |

I think it has more to do with the college town vibe than a north/south thing. Let me pose a few questions.

Whats going on in NYC tomorrow afternoon?

Whats going on in Gainesville Florida tomorrow afternoon?

Technically nothing, it’s an away game, but you get the idea.

College towns stop for football games. From south to north. Like someone said, Gainesville is no different than South Bend on a Saturday home game day, so it has nothing to do with what political party you might support or ideals of your geographic location.

The schools probably do it for a few reasons. To try to confuse the other team or something on some level, and because it looks cool. The students probably go along with the because of their commitment to the school, “its my school and I like the school and I’ll do this simple thing they’re asking the student body as a whole to do” and when I’m walking down the street before my game in a sea of orange shirts I’ll feel like I’m all part of a big unified group, school spirit, following what the school asked us to do, and it’s gonna look awesome. And I’m part of it. Gives ya a good feeling inside. Other than that? I don’t know.

I still would never spend a dime on the official white out shirt or whatever though.

People all voluntarily choosing to do the same thing (wear a color) is nothing at all like “collectivism” (i.e. socialism or communism).

It’s not at all inconsistent for southern conservatives to be in favor of one while rejecting the other…

another Josh|
September 7, 2012 at 12:23 pm |

I’m somewhat mixed on the fan “dress codes”. Thinking back when I was in college and went to college football games, I would’ve hated this if it had been ordained for every game. If it was a special event, one game a season at most, I wouldn’t have minded at all and probably went along with it. When it’s done for every home game, it’s not special, just annoying.

And also remembering some of those chilly games in Ames, IA, it would’ve been kinda tricky to hold something like this too late in the season. Not everyone has a winter coat that’s the same color as everyone else.

If a football team or school wants to try to get all the fans to wear a certain color because they think that the psychological effect of having a sea of 80,000 cheering fans in the same color will help psych out an opponent than they should go for it.

If it’s more important to be individualistic (or obviously if you are rooting for the other team) or you are just there to observe the game rather than want to feel a part of it with then fine, don’t do it. I think it’s just a willingness to be a part of the community of people supporting their team — “The team’s encouraging everyone to wear blue, we support our team, let’s all wear blue Sunday.” But to not do it just because ooh “I don’t want The Man telling me what color to wear”… I don’t know.

Phil Hecken|
September 7, 2012 at 1:04 pm |

” I think it’s just a willingness to be a part of the community of people supporting their team”

~~~

and you can’t be part of the community of people supporting their team unless you’re wearing colors dictated to you by the school administration? even if it’s just a “fan” thing and not officially condoned/sanctioned/requested

why should a fan who happens NOT to be wearing school colors be considered “unwilling to be a part of a community of people supporting their team”?

even IF the reason is “im not having the man tell me what to wear” … why should anyone be forced/coerced/feel obligated to wear a certain get-up in order to “feel a part of it” … when did being a fan mean anything more than rooting for the team (no matter how one chooses to do it)?

what’s next — if you don’t paint your face in school colors, suddenly you’re not supporting the team?

this is the same type of attitude that basically says “if you’re not wearing a flag pin, obviously you hate america”

rpm|
September 7, 2012 at 1:10 pm |

i thought you had no time on thursdays and fridays. make your picks skip.

rpm|
September 7, 2012 at 1:17 pm |

you too paul’s bunion!

walter|
September 7, 2012 at 2:11 pm |

It shouldn’t be an “Either/Or” thing. If you’re the sort of person who can be coerced by a message to wear a certain color shirt/face paint/flag pin, there’s something wrong with you. The message is just information being passed along for you to participate or demur as you see fit. It’s no skin off anyone’s nose.

Now, I have a friend whose daughter attended a Midwestern football factory. He said to me, “If you’ve never wanted to kill someone over the color shirt he was wearing, you just don’t get college football.” Was he just joking?

Not “unwilling to support their team”.. just “unwilling to specifically dress in a certain color that the community decided (or was asked to) wear to show that support on that given day.” I have no doubt you can still support your team by not taking part in the orange-out, however by taking part is one way of showing that you do support them.

I’m sure if you jump up and cheer when the team converts a key third down, that’ll also show how you feel about the team.

this is the same type of attitude that basically says “if you’re not wearing a flag pin, obviously you hate america”

No I’m not assuming that just because wearing the pin means you love America, that not wearing it means the opposite. Maybe some people do assume the opposite, I’m not saying that. I’m not saying that if you don’t take part, you aren’t rooting for the team, you’re just choosing to not show your support in that way.

If the effect that the administration or the alumni group or the college bookstore or whoever was trying to achieve was to get a 100% orange-out of the crowd, then whatever percentage that are choosing to not take part are working against that effect. Doesn’t mean they aren’t fans who support the team just the same, it just means they aren’t willing to show that support that day in that way. And sure if it’s less than a certain percentage it’s probably not going to detract from the overall effect that much…

But if half the crowd chose not to take part, then it wouldn’t really be that effective of an orange-out.

And I thought we weren’t talking about just wearing school colors in general.. i.e. I assume that Gators fans are going to generally wear orange and blue to games, it’s more the practice of specifically saying that this Saturday you wear blue and next Saturday you’ll wear orange that we were debating.

Peter H|
September 7, 2012 at 1:06 pm |

Dress code: My only experience with it was the White Sox Blackout game. 163rd game of the ’08 season and it was WICKED cool. As for college dress code schedules, I’d follow it but I’d be one game early.

JTH|
September 7, 2012 at 2:18 pm |

That’s the only time I’ve ever thought it was stupid for the Sox to NOT wear their black jerseys.

DJ|
September 7, 2012 at 2:21 pm |

And it was fast, too. Remember, the White Sox had to beat Cleveland on Sunday to force Detroit to come to Chicago for the make-up game, and then win the make-up game to force the playoff. After that rain-delayed win on Monday evening, all Williams had to say was “blackout” and boom!

ChrisH|
September 7, 2012 at 1:29 pm |

A zero-numbered car will try to qualify for this weekend’s Sprint Cup race:

I went to a Rams “White Out” MNF game once (Dec 11, 2006), but they gave away White T-shirts (not plain, with a design). Of course, the Bears were in their white jerseys that night, and there were more Bears fans around than Rams, so I wonder if that was strategic to not appear overwhelmed on national TV.

JTH|
September 7, 2012 at 2:22 pm |

Interesting thought, but since the Bears and Rams both wear navy, I kinda doubt it.

Okay so let me get this straight… in today’s comments we are debating whether or not it is lame to ask fans to wear a certain color to a game, but then we find an example where the fan base exercised either individuality or apathy (or were mostly fans of the other team) and didn’t exactly pull off an effective “white-out” and we mock them for it?

(not “article” – I meant the whole discussion…) the overall discussion has centered around “we shouldn’t have to wear a certain color because someone said so”… and then we laugh at Rams fan because they didn’t pull it off.

JTH|
September 7, 2012 at 4:29 pm |

It’s a discussion. Various viewpoints are being expressed. I see nothing hypocritical.

And I, for one, was not ripping the Rams or their fans. The “ha” in my post was because the same thought had occurred to me about the lack of white in the white-out.

The only mocking I have done so far today (here, at least) was directed at a certain hipster Ohio State alumnus. Oh, and the White Sox for wearing the wrong color shirts to their own black-out game.

Yeah, you’re right.. I re-read what I replied and I’m having a hard time quantifying what I was trying to say… I had just been debating up higher in the thread about Lukas’ point in the column & now I come down here and see you guys talking about the Rams feeble white out attempt, and yes one argument is at odds with the point made by the other, but no, you’re right you guys here aren’t being hypocritical.

Its fun to wear red to work on game day. Its fun that everyone’s doing the same thing. It brings us together as a community (further to Paul’s comment on the relationship between sports and civics).

But I agree that its only fun because its organic / grassroots. When it turns into a sponsored or promoted thing (i.e. where our collective spirit gets turned into a vehicle to sell things to us) then it turns sour pretty quickly.

The best example I can come up with is Vancouver’s “towel” thing. What started as a cool fan/community thing after Roger Neilsen’s shenanigans gets turned into a monetization opportunity with eight separate sponsors.

Heard a rumor the North Kentucky Fighting Butterflies are in redesign mode. I smell a contest brewing. One of the better made up team names I’ve seen here Mr. Scott. This is a particularly strange place to roam sometimes. It pleases me.

Chris K|
September 7, 2012 at 2:57 pm |

Strange as in funny strange. No malice or ill will in that one.

Arr Scott|
September 7, 2012 at 3:55 pm |

And here I thought the North Kentucky Polytechnic Institute Porkbellies was my One Good Thought of the day. Remember, the Fighting Butterflies (or would it be Butterflys, like Maple Leafs?) have a long and proud history of chartreuse and fuchsia, though I’m sure the administration would consider a more staid scheme, a la Hawaii’s switch from rainbow to dark green and black.

JTH|
September 7, 2012 at 4:42 pm |

Duh. It would be Butterfly’s, of course.

Dylan|
September 7, 2012 at 3:24 pm |

Michigan has been doing “maize outs” for at least seven years. First one I remember was 2005 Penn State game, then a very unsuccessful “blue out” for the 2005 OSU game. In 2006, the student shirt featured the “Go Blue Wear Maize” slogan. http://4.bp.blogspot...

The only “vile epithet” was Mr. Burns (the Maryland legislator) referring to support of marriage equality as “injurious actions.”

And yes, it’s very persuasive. Because when rough, tough NFL players — one of the last bastions of relatively acceptable troglodyte-macho behavior — come out in favor of marriage equality, you know we’ve reached a tipping point on this issue. And it’s about time.

Chris K|
September 7, 2012 at 7:00 pm |

Loved the part when he said the Russian judge gives him a 10 for beautiful oppressionism. Kudos to Mr Kluwe. And how does written profanity lessen or cheapen a written argument or statement? I’ve never understood that one. I respect the courage it can take to tell it like it is. Or to speak from the heart. Why the hell can’t my heart swear?

When the Chicago Blackhawks attempted to observe a moment of silence for Dollar Bill Wirtz, the fans booed through it. I wonder if something similar will happen in Cleveland.

Bromotrifluoromethane|
September 7, 2012 at 6:16 pm |

Interesting topic today. As usual I have a slightly different take on it. Living 4-5 hours away from Pittsburgh in the other side of the state I’m a Panthers fan. For me it’s not so much about “official gear” or what color I should be wearing at the games. All of my Panthers stuff I own and have worn to various Panthers games I’ve been to ALL says either “Panthers” or “Pittsburgh” on it instead of “Pitt”. I hate the “Pitt” name and refuse to ever wear anything with it on there. When I refer to the team I call them “Pittsburgh”. So I don’t go by “suggested color” of the week. Just by my own choice as to what I feel like wearing that week. This is the jersey I still own and wear:

The shirt I have on now says “Pittsburgh Panthers”. With how they’ve played so far this season I think they’ll be happy to see someone still wearing their stuff no matter what it says on it. UGH!!!

Bromotrifluoromethane|
September 7, 2012 at 6:18 pm |

And BTW… That Sporting News ranking today? Reminded me I have yet to do my 1-122 rankings. I think I will get to work on that soon. Did anybody else do one? Did anybody else do one? I’m curious to see the way it was attacked by others besides how Paul did his. I’m also wondering if I should include the new Knicks set or go with last years and wait for next season.

BurghFan|
September 7, 2012 at 8:27 pm |

In the city, the University is called Pitt. Period. If you asked for last night’s Pittsburgh score, you’d probably be told that the Pirates were off.

Bromotrifluoromethane|
September 7, 2012 at 8:47 pm |

I’m in Pittsburgh a few times a year and never had issues with it. Pittsburgh for the Panthers has always worked just fine for me while I’m there.
And the Pirates weren’t the only team that was off last night. I was almost happy when a bunch of college punks came into the bar and cried until the manager shut the game off so they could watch their flipping tennis. 5 wins for the Panthers this year. At least they finally have a good coach and if left alone he’ll build the team into a power again. Unless he gets run out of town by next weekend. I’m already seeing people saying he needs to be canned and have Wannstedt brought back. That would be a double or a triple UGH!!!

And to think that all the Knicks needed to do was take the old jerseys and ditch the black…
Is it just my imagination, or do the too-close-to-straight wordmark and the relatively plain shorts make this set look like System of Dress?

Wheels|
September 7, 2012 at 11:35 pm |

They’re just annoying. That’s the best way to sum them up, to me. They blew it.

Ripon is producing 27 of the 32 NFL on field jerseys for Nike this year. My EFLI uniform sakes rep told me this in December of 2011. He also said that Nike wanted to introduce more than one radical uni change (Seahawks the exception) but Ripon Athletic simply could not source those other teams for 2012, but big changes ARE expected for 2013!

random_reader|
September 8, 2012 at 12:13 am |

So David Robertson wore pajama pants again tonight.

According to the LoHud Yankees Blog:

“By the way, Robertson left no wiggle room. He said he’s not superstitious at all, but he wore his pants down tonight — they were up last night — because of superstitious teammates. “I’m not, I swear,” he said. “There’s other guys on this team who are very superstitious. I was told (to wear the pants down).” At that point, Robertson pointed to Logan’s locker. It was the lefty who made the setup man’s fashion choice tonight.”